I'll start with the easy stuff: A white fluffy head pillows on top of a good looking crystal-clear amber brew with low visible carbonation.

Now to the tough part: Let me begin with a little bit of background. In Sweden, there exists a kind of tobacco called "wet snuff". It is Kentucky tobacco that's been matured and ground into tiny particles. This is then moistened and stuffed into small round boxes. When using it you grab some and squeeze it into a loosely compacted mass that you stuff under you upper lip. It also comes in portion sizes in something that looks like a tiny tea-bag. We used to joke about how it would make the most awful drink if one brewed a tea from these portion bags.

Now on with the rest of the review. This beer tastes _exactly_ like one would imagine a tea made from this wet snuff would taste like. I'm not talking subtle over or under tones here... smack bang exactly like the snuff. Both in smell and taste. I do recognize the quality of the beer, and I would generally enjoy a highly hopped beer like this. If I'd never tried the snuff it would've been fine I think. I tried to persist through the bottle, but it was just too much. The more I drank, the more it reminded me of the tobacco. The aftertase of the beer is exactly like when you accidentally swallow some of the snuff. Too bad... I had high hopes for this beer as I love other Great Lakes brews. (1,398 characters)

Light gold colored beer with a rapidly fading head.Aroma is pine.Taste is grapefruit,pine and hops.This is just another one of those beers that have Pinesol written all over it.I was always under the impression that pine was a scent not a flavor.This is not good to drink but I'm sure it does a hell of a job cleaning floors. (325 characters)

Smell: Typical ale fruityness, with strong banana notes. Faint hints of malt. Also a very faint sour sulfur smell, making me wonder if the beer might be skunked (given that it was mailed to me). And, of course, a strong hop character.

Taste: Well, it doesn't taste skunked. However, there's not much here to write home about. Like Lagunita's IPA, there's nothing here but hops. Hops hit you at the start, they stay with you mid-palate, and they're there at the finish. No malt whatsoever to balance out the hop character. It's like drinking hop tea.

Mouthfeel: Sprightly, spritzy.

Drinkability: Couldn't drink more than one of these. I like hops, but I also like other characteristics as well. (786 characters)

T: Bitter, hoppy taste. This was not for me. The hops were deep, some citrus-y, some sweet, but was a bit overpowering for my taste. Finished even more bitter than it began

M: Somehow light, which was surprising with the robust hop presence. but much too hoppy for me

D: I was able to finish it, but the residual hop presence in the mouth along with the bitter aftertaste would keep me from ordering another one. This would probably be good with some strong dishes, heat or spice. I laughed, as it almost tasted like a decadent burning river.. (679 characters)

Taste: caramel start, a strange bitter middle with citrus hops at the end

Mouthfeel: moderate carbonation, medium-bodied, sweet start with a big bitter middle spike that gets less bitter towards the end

Overall: An OK APA that I was a bit disappointed with. The bitter spike in the middle muted a lot of the other flavors. I like Great Lakes beers, but this one did not sit as well with me as others have. (525 characters)

Pours a clean orange-ish/ yellow color with a white head. Aromas of a small dryness and a small citrus/ grapefruty hop. In the taste, a dry maltiness, small hops, and somewhat earthy. A smooth, small bitterness in the mouthfeel, with a dry, small hop aftertaste. Not huge in aroma, and decent taste. Somewhat refreshing and and easy drinking. (342 characters)

Holy Cascade! This beer is great for hopheads. It looks fine, smells better than it tastes for a small time hop guy like me. This beer is pallet scorching, so be careful if you're not used to powerful alphas. Overall is is decent for Great Lakes. (246 characters)

Pours a clear amber with quick fading two finger white head; spotty lace left behind. Smell: toffee, biscuit, grainy, spicy with just a touch of citrus peel. Taste: toffee, just a little nutty, spicy, grainy, a little lemon peel. Medium sweetness fades to a grainy, spicy finish. Not a bad beer, but stylistically this is a miss for me.

I had to pour the beer very hard to get any head and the head left in no time leaving every little behind. The color is absolutely clear and light. You can see right through it very easily. The smell is very nice and hoppy. The taste is a bit off, like it's a little old, but the bottle says best before 2/26/07. It's an ok taste, but it is just off. The mouthfeel is a bit watery and hard. I don't think I would try this again. (428 characters)

Light golden color with a nice finger of head that recedes quickly. Smell is weak, mainly caramel malt and straw. Taste is slightly better, although that just brings it up to average. Overall, I don't think this beer really has anything going for it. Not much in the way of hops, and the malt profile is nothing special to make up for it. (338 characters)

Dark amber color with thick head . Poured in to a pint glass. Head over 1" thick. Leaves good rings on glass. very average, one dimensional flavor. burnt malty nose, weak on the hops. My first sampling of Great Lakes. Very average beer. Harsh bitter aftertaste. (261 characters)

Okay, that is about all I can say about this one. I guess I am just not that impressed with this brewery. I have had some damn good beers lately and this one fell way short for me. Its an APA according to the label so one would imagine that it had a hop forward presence but like the lager it had a massive amount of malt, now I agree that malt helps to balance some beers but this one had too much, much like the lager it got better as I drank it, but I am still not a huge fan of this brewery, which based on what I have heard from friends and reviews is confounding.

Appearance: Reddish gold, typical for an APA. Not a huge amount of head and the best by date had not been reached, but I wonder if these have been killed somewhere along the way. I bought a mixed sixpack at a grocery store while on a trip, and I have kept them cold, but none of them have been all that wonderful. Although once again they are pretty beers.

Smell: Faint hops, some cloying malt component there.

Taste: Not cloying, but a lot of malt, which I don't care for. I want hops and this one is weak on that. Its just worthy of the high praise, but this is my opinion. And once again, I may have gotten a bad batch. But after drinking a lot of APA's and IPA's this one is just okay. (1,263 characters)

A- Pours a pale golden and slightly copper color. A nice and fluffy two finger head that dissipates somewhat quickly. Lots of lacing and bubbles are visibly rising to the surface. Looks really appetizing.

S- Citrus is most present, and is largely grapefruit. Some floral notes are evident as well. Somewhat surprisingly, there is actually a noticeable malt presence as well. Just a very slight pine and resin smell. Good but not as aromatic as I was expecting.

T- Not much citrus here as the the more piney characteristics take over. The malt is also still present but is very subtle. A nice amount of strong hop presence, but certainly not overtly bitter. Again it's decent but I'm underwhelmed.

M- Incredibly drinkable. I found the body to be rather thin, but it was largely because of the surprising lack of carbonation. It was definitely carbonated, but almost seemed flat. This might be an opinion-based thing but not my cup of tea (or beer I suppose).

O- I had high expectations going in. Also, it seems to be a really beloved beer, and I seriously doubt that this many people are wrong. I just chalk it up to a difference in opinion. Personally, just not my thing. I recommend this based solely on how much love it gets from most people. However, I probably won't be picking this up again. (1,327 characters)

A- Poured a nice clear deep copper/amber color. Nice one finger white head comes and falls down to just wisps in my glass. Some spotting lacing is on the sides of the glass the entire beer.

S- Pale malts bring out most of the aroma right off the bat. There is also a light bitter and citrus hops in the back end of the nose. Light hints of sweet caramel come and go with this beer.

T- Taste is a little off for me with the APA. The citrus and pale malts crash together right on the front end of this beer. It is balanced for the most part. Sweet caramel malts come in the middle leaving a nice pine like bitter hop bite in the ending. Also light alcohol is in the tail end of this beer.

M- Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation is good for the style. Bitter hops and light malts stay on the palate long after the sip has been made. Alcohol and bitter hops stay in the aftertaste for a while as well. Kind of drying in the mouth.

D- This is a drinkable APA for sure. My only problem is I don't think it is as good as everyone makes it out to be. There are many other APA's that I would rather drink. I would recommend this though to someone who wants to try to step into the world of hops. (1,239 characters)

definitely more of an english style pale ale, with the dusty like malts and just light fruity cascade hops in the taste. pours a tiny bit amber in color, with a receding white head and inch tall. smells like a bass ale, and tastes similar, just a bit bigger hop flavor. mouthfeel brings it way down for me, weakly carbonated fading to nearly flat as it warms, not a quick finish at all, even a little brassy at the end. definitely not my favorite pale ale and definitely not my favorite great lakes brew, but a decent amalgamation of the english and american syles... (567 characters)